


four instances of lovers behavior

by s0fthope



Series: love in the time of 2039 [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Upgraded Connor | RK900, Blood, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Cuddling & Snuggling, Deviant Upgraded Connor | RK900, Domestic Fluff, Enthusiastic Consent, M/M, Mention of scars, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Praise Kink, Protective Upgraded Connor | RK900, Some Plot, Trans Gavin Reed, Wire Play, and for the last chapter, for all, gavin doing stupid shit, getting used to human behavior, mention of connor and hank, one day i will write something with tina in it, that how it be on this hell of an earth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 09:08:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17505704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s0fthope/pseuds/s0fthope
Summary: the first few months of gavin reed and nines relationship, affectionately titled, affectionately displayed. they're working through things, and that's really what matters most.





	1. one month

**Author's Note:**

> me again; we're still in 2039, and we're still doing fantastic. enjoy!

nine was a being of principle and succinct personality--one such principle was the idea of timeliness. he spent most nights awake rather than hibernating in order to stay on a schedule of short rest periods and longer working hours, made sure things were on time when they were sent in, and even began to corral gavin into more efficient modes of organization to keep him in tempo. mornings were one such ritual that he had begun to perfect for the both of them. he often engaged in texts with gavin, as their primary method of communication. for gavin, it was better than talking, better than exposing just a sliver of the soft personality he really had. nine didn’t know  _ why _ \--he thought it was stupid. nobody cared. everyone knew.

but there had been no such text yet this morning. instead, nine jolted out of an accidental hibernation with his vision clouded in  _ update complete  _ messages. he scrambled to an upright position, finding that he had fallen asleep on the couch, sideways, rather than banked against the wall. he knew the time was late, not too late that he wouldn’t be on time, but late enough that he would be early. he decided that the shirt he was wearing needed to be changed, but that the pants could stay. his mind felt rushed to say the least, out of place and out of order. he made a note to, when he got the chance, check out why the update wasn’t scheduled for a later date.

his own error, he supposed.

he wouldn’t say that his morning was going well. at all. nine found that none of his texts had been replied to either (not that it mattered, but a small part of it hurt), and found himself sitting on a later tram to the precinct. 

his foot tapping wildly, he texted gavin again:

_ hope everything is fine. _

he could do nothing but wait, glance around the cabin, a veheminous light behind his eyes, and wonder how the day could get any worse.

as he exited the cab and made a beeline for the stairs up to the street, his sweater caught, tearing at the sleeve with an awful ripping noise. the inch and a half gap exposed the underside of his forearm as he rolled both sleeves up, pulled on his coat, and continued forward. his breaths were heavy in his throat.

when he arrived at the precinct, he was lucky to meet connor, trailing behind hank, in the main lobby. he rushed forward to catch his sleeve, and connor turned abruptly in response, first confused, until his face lit up with delight.

“nines!” he said cheerfully, reaching up to squeeze his shoulder. it was a gesture nine had gotten used to and come to enjoy over the past few months. connor’s new way of saying hello. he gestured for hank to go on without him, to which their father figure shrugged, letting the elevator shut.

“hi, eights,” nine managed, still regaining his breath. a smile curled at the edges of his mouth, but didn’t convince connor of anything.

“is something wrong?” he prodded. his face morphed almost instantly, his hand still resting on nine’s upper arm until nine spoke.

“it has been a rough morning,at the very least.”

he followed connor toward the elevator, and connor turned his head to ask another question.

“what all happened?”

“i accidentally fell into stasis, woke late, and managed to rip my favorite sweater,” nine shoved his hands into his pockets. “all in one morning.”

“oh, nines,” connor sighed. “well, we can see about patching your sweater, but you’re definitely not late. everything’s alright.” he managed a smile to try to brighten nine’s attitude. it worked for a moment, nine’s led whirring blue for a moment, but transitioned back to a solid yellow after a moment. connor sighed again.

“it’s alright, nines,” connor spread his arms, motioning nine to come forward. nine did, but tensed as connor wrapped his arms around the top of his ribs, head resting against his collar bone. nine slowly put his arms around connor’s shoulders, settling into the pressure of the action. he couldn’t help but lean in just slightly, mind numbing comfortably, led cycling back to blue.

after a moment, connor let him go.

nine blinked, dazed. “thanks.”

“you act as if you’ve rarely had a hug.” connor picked up the briefcase he had set down. “let’s get up to work.”

the elevator door finally opened, and nine followed connor inside. as they entered the elevator, nine received a text. it was from gavin.

_ hey, nines, i’m really sorry. i fell asleep early and woke up late, so i just now saw these.  _

_ good morning, i’ll talk to you when i see you on break, yeah? we can get coffee if you want. best thirium in town--my treat. xx _

 


	2. four months

_ nines, when are you off? _

_ i promised gavin that i would spend some time with him personally, but i believe we are scheduled until nine as per thursday’s usual. _

_ cool, i’ll let you spend that 23 minutes in peace. _

_ appreciated, eights. _

 

though he and gavin were not the only individuals left at the precinct, the light outside was beginning to dim rapidly as the sun set, basking the room in a fluorescent glow. gavin, sat across from him, was edging on sleep, head propped up with one hand, eyes half-lidded. his eyes moved sporadically, methodically, across his screen, running the second review of the report they had sent in to fowler a day and a half prior. nine was pleased that the dark circles had begun to fade from under gavin’s eyes, but his evening drowsiness, along with his habit of not eating often enough on shift, were two problems more that they would have to tackle. 

he nudged at gavin under the divide of the desk with the toe of his shoe. gavin peered up and to the side of his computer screen to look at nine directly, instead of the blue, blurry shape he gave from behind the screen.

“what?” he mumbled, leaning forward on both elbows.

_ you look as if you might fall asleep. _

gavin squinted to read the message that showed on his computer, sighed, squinted at nine instead.

“i’m exhausted, you can’t blame me,” gavin retorted. he scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands, holding back a yawn.

_ what were you doing that kept you up? _

nine enjoyed sending direct messages instead of talking--that way he knew gavin was paying attention to what he was saying, though most of the time he did. 

“not sleeping, that’s for sure. i dunno--” gavin stretched his arms out, and nine heard the bones in his shoulders pop. “insomnia, i guess?”

“well i suppose we should try to remedy that,” nine said, offering up a soft nod of his head, eyes skimming above the top of the computer to look at gavin just below it. gavin huffed, shoulders falling, blinking bleary eyes back at nine.

“you wanna call it a night?” he asked.

“it is close enough to seven that our clocking in at 11-oh-9 instead of 11-30 should be fine.”

gavin spun in his chair, stretching out as he did. “that’s what i like to hear.”

they arrived at gavin’s apartment, with much protest from gavin on taking a cab instead of the train, ten minutes later. gavin leaned on nine the entire ride there, his fingers absentmindedly locked with nine’s, drawing little lines with his thumb over nine’s knuckles. luckily enough, gavin was well enough to walk them both up to his apartment, unlocking the door, shrugging of his shoes and coat before collapsing onto the couch, slouching into it.

nine busied himself with more important activities.

“hey,” gavin said after a while, turning from where he was sitting on the couch to look at nine, crouched near the entrance to the patio, petting one of his cats. nine looked up momentarily, raising his eyebrows to let gavin know he was listening.

“how’s your arm doing?”

a few days prior they had been out on a case and nine had been injured by the rogue assailant. it was only a slash to his arm, and gavin knew it hadn’t hurt him all that much and that there was no chance of infection. but the feeling of concern dug at gavin ravenously. this was the first time he had asked since it happened. nine gave a shrug.

“i glued it together and wrapped it, but all i feel is pins and needles, really.”

“c’mere, lemme see,” gavin coaxed, waving him over with one hand. nine stood rather slowly, not wanting to leave the cat behind, but padded over in socked feet and over to where gavin sat. gavin patted the couch next to him, an invitation for nine to sit, which he took. he rolled his sleeve past his left elbow, exposing the now sealed gash under a thin layer of ace bandage. a smudge of blue had managed to leak through, staining the tan bandage blue-green. 

nine adjusted the sleeve of his sweater and stuck his arm out in front of gavin.

“it is fine,” he stated, quite promptly. “a small amount of leaking, but otherwise contained.”

gavin brought his hand up to hold to nine’s wrist with his thumb and index finger. nine allowed him to move his arm around, turning it over so that he could better see the bandage over the wound. there was a layer of cotton that nine had applied to the majority of the closing gash, but the blue had soaked through part of that as well. 

he pulled a face.

“i think we should change the wrapping.”

“i don’t quite see the point,” nine shook his head. “i don’t want to bother you to do it and there isn’t a chance i’ll catch an infection. plus, thirium usually doesn’t stain fabric, especially black.”

gavin sighed, shaking his head. 

“alright, but lemme know if you want to.”

“i will, gavin, don’t worry,” nine soothed. he patted gavin’s knee with the arm he outstretched, before retracting it, pulling his sleeve down. gavin’s heart gave a skip. he stood after a moment, shrugging off the jacket he was wearing and tossing it over the top of the couch.

“i’m gonna change right quick--i feel like i’ve been wearing this shirt for three days,” he said, stretching out his back as he did, arms swinging as they fell to his sides. 

“you have,” nine said, eyes flicking across his face. gavin snorted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, and caught the small smile that formed on nine’s face. gavin shook his head as he turned away from nine, swerving a cat just in time as it skirted past him and leapt onto the couch. 

he shuffled towards the bedroom, pulling the several day old shirt from his back as he did. he tossed it across the room and pulled open a drawer of the dresser, searching for a cleaner shirt. 

nine’s eyes followed him from the couch as he did, locked on the curve of his shoulder and spine. his pupils felt blown, dragging in all the light from the last dregs the sun pushed out over the buildings, the glare of the television in his peripheral, the light in the kitchenette, switched on and forgotten. he watched gavin as if capturing a time lapse video in his mind. as gavin shook a new shirt out, unfolding it, turning toward the open doorway to pull it on, he saw nine.

nine snapped his gaze away as fast as he could.

“hey,” gavin called-- _ oh hell _ \--forcing nine to look back over at him. “what’re you staring at?”

“nothing,” he tried, but to no avail. a quick heat rose to his face and he was unsure if this was made apparent with a splash of blue up to his ears.

“no, you’re looking at me like you’ve never seen a goddamn shoulder, what are you on about?”

“i know what a shoulder is, gavin,” nine rolled his eyes, trying to settle in to a biting demeanor, rather than babble himself silly. “i can’t say i’ve seen  _ your  _ particular shoulder, but--”

he was cut off by the sound of gavin snorting loudly. he continued to snicker, setting down his shirt on top of the dresser and standing more or less inside the doorway, arms away from his sides.

“well there you have it, my shoulders,” he teased. nine didn’t meet his eye or his form, instead staring into his lap, where little, black cat toast had plaintively sat himself down. he fiddled with the charm on his collar.

“nines,” gavin called, trying to have him look over-- _ no _ , nine told himself, he wasn’t falling for that and have gavin be doing something stupid. “nines, hey, are you okay?”

gavin dropped his arms, stepping forward and into the living space. he hugged his arms across his chest, drawing his shoulders in, trying to appear smaller for some inane reason nine couldn’t place but it made him feel just a bit better. he moved toward nine, close enough to see parts of his face, two or less feet from him, arms length at the least.

“hey-- _ oh _ ,” gavin cut himself off with the surprised sound. “oh my god, are you blushing?”

“gavin--” nine tried.

“holy shit, sorry, that’s actually adorable. why are you blushing?”

“usually, seeing your partner unclothed is attractive.” nine finally lifted his head to look at gavin, who had resumed standing with his arms beside him, a slight look of awe plastered on his face, as if he was taking in the sight of nine with color high in his cheeks. toast wriggled free of nine’s grasp.

“you’ve never seen me like this, you’ve never seen  _ anyone _ like this,” he said, voice almost wistful.

“i...uh, well...” nine stuttered. “no, i suppose i have not.”

gavin shook his head slowly, exhaling all at once.

“you are so precious,” he said as he did, shoulders dropping. nine blinked, uncertainty written across his face, LED spinning once, twice, yellow, back to blue. gavin sat next to him, moving forward enough to press one knee against nine’s thigh. a warm hand met the cool skin of nine’s cheek--the topical sensors kicking in almost instantly, working to match the heat of gavin’s palm. he felt the warm rush over his skin, muscles relaxing in response. 

nine’s eyes drifted across gavin’s face, the warm, reverent look on it, down across his shoulders, the ribs he could see poking from under his chest, the concave of his soft stomach as he sat bent forward, back up to his face, how the ridge of his nose was raised, scarred, slightly bent. seeing how each bone resided just underneath the skin at his collarbone, the ridges of his shoulders, and the curve of his neck. it was less of a scan and more of an admiration--despite the small survey that collected in his head, stored data in files, books, pictures, to watch over for later.

tiny, pale, scars--the remnants of little cat scratches--lit the side of his arm, a now barely-visible slash wound on his stomach, a faded stretch of thick, black lines near his left elbow on either side, and a pour of brighter hexagons on his right arm. a long, drawstring scar right over his ribs. gavin had dropped his free arm, elbow resting on his knee, and nine moved to rest his hand atop gavin’s. gavin took the liberty of lifting it, setting nine’s palm flat against the dip where his ribs began. nine flinched involuntarily, something deep within him reacting, fearful.

“woah,” gavin placaded. “no worries, nines.”

nine could just barely make out the thrum of gavin’s heart ( _ heart? yes, heart _ .) under his fingertips, the pads of his fingers, the arches between them, the skin at his wrist, a soft white.

“got a few of these but i’m still kickin’,” gavin said, motioning his head to the little scars. he patted nine’s cheek gently before drawing his hand away noticing the soft white it left behind, the soft white that the fingers curled around nine’s wrist made.

“you know i can’t--” he began, but nine stopped him.

“i know, i feel as if i can feel you better like this.”

nine drew his hand away after a moment, the white fading from his skin, but not without patting gavin’s stomach, eyes round, soft. 

“i’m going to make sure you are eating. i don’t much care to think of the excuses you have for not doing it, it’s extremely important for you to be well fed.”

gavin couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up in his chest, but he gave nine’s hand a squeeze as he stood, unfolding his legs from under him, nine watching him as he did.

“fine,” he threw over his shoulder, voice filled with teasing bitterness rather than acidity. he finally picked up the shirt he had originally found, pulling it up and over his head, rolling the sleeves up past his elbows.

nine smiled to himself, feeling pleased. gavin stood in the doorway of the bedroom--they watched each other for a moment, equally reverent gazes between them, before nine stood, drifting toward the kitchenette. 

“gavin,” he said as he moved to the fridge. “you are going to eat, and then you are going to bed.” he sorted through its contents mentally for a moment, before picking out a box of take out and rummaging in the cabinets for a clean plate.

“i’m not tired.”

“you were exhausted at the precinct?”

“what if i said our favorite show was on tonight?”

“unfortunately, it can be watched later.”

“you’re staying over?”

“i planned on it, if that is fine with you.”

“sure, that’s great.”

nine poured the leftover pasta into a porcelain bowl, sticking it into the microwave sitting on the countertop. he turned toward gavin, the fork in his hand bobbing loosely. 

“you’re just looking to be cuddled to sleep again,” he mused. he was fine with their current arrangement of sleeping over, taking a day, staying over, taking a day or two. as long as gavin was happy, so was he. besides, emotionally, they were fundamentally different, alien even. and as gavin was coming to terms with how he felt about himself physically around nine, he hadn’t really seen much of him aside from him tonight. the whole situation was rather strange, but he was okay with that. he understood boundaries, as much as he did tasks, very well. and something about keeping gavin safe as he slept made him feel a bit safer, too.

“maybe i am.” gavin crossed his arms. nine carried the bowl of pasta over to where he was standing at the raised side of the countertop, set it in front of him. gavin pushed their fingers together as nine set down the bowl and fork, standing up on the balls of his feet. he moved forward, waiting for nine to close the gap between them. he did, giving gavin a quick, chaste kiss on the top on his head before speaking.

“you enjoy it, i enjoy it, i don’t mind.”

a soft, almost torn look, passed over gavin’s face before fading. he mumbled something to himself  as nine turned (nine assumed it was a string of curses in disbelief) that nine didn’t catch, but he still smiled to himself. 

“hey-- _ nines _ , please come back and give me a real kiss,” gavin whined. gavin was so used to it as a form of affection he often forgot how  _ bad _ nine was at reacting to it, doing it properly. nine smiled back at him, stopped in his tracks to turn back and look at gavin.

“and make a fool of myself?” he teased. “i’d much rather not.”

“ _ nines _ , please?” gavin complained again. nine obliged, more out of actual want then any peer pressure gavin could inflict. the kiss he did give him was off center and heavy, but gavin held steadfast, leaning forward and up into nine until he let him go.

“better?”

“very.”

gavin wouldn’t admit that he enjoyed the sensation of being cared for, or the thought of being nestled in nine’s arms, folded in on himself, cuddling nine as much as nine clasped him. the idea of being touched at all--gavin had forgotten how important it was to him. as nine followed gavin to the couch, he found himself doing exactly that. gavin draped his legs across nine’s lap, one of nine’s arms around his shoulders, pulled up as close as he could be.

toast was begging for the food in gavin’s hands but he was too lost in his own tired thoughts to care.

 


	3. five months

the sunlight washed through the curtains and over gavin’s shoulder as he awoke. he blinked the sleep from his eyes, trying to clear a clouded, blurry vision. he was neatly tucked still under the duvet, with one arm under his pillow and the other pulled close to his chest. he could feel a cool air from where his head was uncovered, and a soft lump (grey, it was obviously Q-tip) within arms reach. he supposed they had forgotten to turn the heating on and shut the door before they went to bed.

typical nine and gavin, he thought to himself.

he wriggled himself back under the sheets until his shoulder bumped some part of nine’s back, solid, slightly warm with sleep. he pressed their backs together, sighing contently. he could feel the softest whir of the thirium running under nine’s skin, the echo of his breathing, even under the hoodie he was sleeping in.  _ gavin’s _ hoodie, mind him, because somehow it “smelled nice”. sure, alright, what the hell, gavin let him wear it. so what? it got stretched out because nines was shaped like an inverted triangle? then it was bigger, and carried the scent of the fancy shampoo nine liked to use.

gavin almost resisted the urge to roll over and bury himself in the curve of nine’s shoulder, but he felt nine stir behind him, stretching out. he shifted slightly as nine turned, at the edge of hibernation and wakefulness, LED spinning just once before flicking back to a steady, soft, pulsating light. maybe gavin was thinking too loudly.

the warm presence of nine was still there, but the comforting weight against gavin’s back had disappeared. he turned himself over, sleep dazed, knowing it was a bit before he needed to get up--it was saturday, even nine wouldn’t want to wake before 8:30.

gavin reached up to rub at his eyes, trying to see clearer the form asleep next to him. 

nine was mostly stretched out as he slept, one arm crossed against his chest and the other pooled next to him. his face was pressed deep into the pillow, but the expression on it made gavin’s heart skip: slightly awed, soft--he might’ve even used the word angelic. his hair was mussed up enough from sleep that it fell in little half curls against the side of his face. every so often, much longer than it took gavin to breathe, his chest would rise and fall, shoulders, stomach, arms, moving with it, slow and even.

very rarely did gavin get to see nine like this--in a state of complete relaxation with all of his guards down. he felt very honored and very scared to be the person nine slept next to, as well as felt a pang of admiration shoot through him.

he brushed his thumb over the high of nine’s cheek, his skin cool to the touch, leaving shimmering fingerprints in their wake as his skin reflected light. gavin pushed the stray tufts back from his face and let his fingers run through nine’s hair. he brushed his fingers once, twice, against his scalp. holding back a yawn, his hand moved to cradle the back of nine’s head in his palm, fingers running over where the cropped cut met the base of his neck. the features of his face molded together in a smooth, placaded look, not pressed, drawn in, or forced. he envied not being able to meticulously catalogue data as nine would in this moment.

gavin wondered if he was dreaming of anything.

he watched as nine took a slow, deep breath in and scrunched his eyebrows. he exhaled all at once as he opened his eyes, squinting at him, blinking several times over. his gaze washed over gavin’s face before he shut his eyes again. he reached out blindly with one hand and gavin gave him his own from where it had rested on nine’s neck. they slotted their fingers together--gavin brought their hands up to kiss the back of nine’s hand.

“hey, baby, good morning,” he mused, thumb running over nine’s wrist.

nine huffed in response, screwing up his face further.

“nah, nah, you don’t have to get up yet,” gavin wriggled himself up against the pillows and closer to nine, who had proceeded to pull his arms and legs in on himself, feigning off the cold until his systems dropped out of hibernation. 

“c’mere,” gavin coaxed. he patted his collarbone with his other hand. nine begrudgingly curled forward, smushing his face against gavin’s chest. nine’s arms were now one around his waist and the other drawn up to his chest. gavin combed his fingers through nine’s sleep mussed hair, kissing the top of his head, cradling nine against him. 

nine sniffled in, letting out a pathetic, annoyed whine.

“mmm, back to sleep, baby,” gavin shushed. nine quieted as he spoke, snuggling against gavin’s chest with a soft sigh, gavin’s voice barely recognizable from incomprehensible mumbling in nine’s ears. he, too, mumbled out to try to talk to gavin from the void of sleep.

“mmm,” he tried, unsuccessfully, “m’ cold,” he felt gavin’s chest rumble with laughter. gavin ran his hand down nine’s back, trying to heat him with his own sleep warm body. he could feel the soft whirring underneath nine’s skin again, short, little clicks as he shifted, curled further toward gavin. he knew nine would never admit it, how he leaned into every touch gavin gave him, closed the space at their hips, arms, hands, legs, any chance he could get, how nine  _ ached _ to be touched. gavin pulled him as much as he could in on him, completely in a tangle of limbs, faces pressed to odd crevices, gavin pressing kisses to the top of his head as he whispered to him. 

“you’re so cute, did you know that?”

“mmm,” nine managed,

“yeah, yeah.” 

gavin could feel but couldn’t see the led from how nine was facing him, and wasn’t much able to move, but the pattern of his breathing began to slow, soft against gavin’s throat.

“you don’t have’ta sleep,” he assured. “but i’ll stay here with you.”

“please,” nine said softly, the words whistling out with his breathing.

gavin ran his thumb across the blue light against nine’s temple. it circled in response, and nine let out a little sigh.

“tha’s nice,” he slurred.

“back to sleep,” gavin coaxed again. he felt nine squeeze his shoulder, arm snaked up against his shoulder blade, and then relax. he smiled, breathing out through his nose, and pressing his face into nine’s hair.

“i’m not gonna let anything bad happen to you. i promise.”

gavin said sleep, and so they did.


	4. seven months

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> absolutely no minors in the chat i will fight you and become your new parent

from where he sat against nine’s abdomen, gavin splayed his fingers across the pale skin of nine’s stomach. there rest the sensation of the slow rise and fall of his lungs under his palms, the realization of how soft his synth-skin really was. he couldn’t help the shaky sigh that left him, or control how out of breath he felt. just the raw, awed emotion that washed over him. 

nine touched his knee, voice kind.

“gavin?”

“you’re fucking beautiful,” gavin managed. he met nine’s gaze, eyes wide, the expression on his face as soft as the admiration in his voice. despite the blue that rose to the tops of nine’s ears, he gave gavin’s knee a squeeze.

“you’ve seen me so many times, and you still say that,” he replied. gavin ducked his head.

“‘cause it’s true.”

nine laughed and gavin nearly melted. he wished he could catalogue just how clear it sounded and how his fingertips picked up on each vibration. he could only hope that nine would let him near the wires at the base of his neck, his abdomen, let him make nine feel something. something more than rutting and grinding and gavin having all the sensation and nine feeling nothing.

they’d only tried it a few times prior, but gavin was sure of himself. besides, this wasn’t a one sided relationship. he wasn’t going to let that happen.

he curled himself forward, not resisting the rise of nine’s hips against his own, but placed one hand flat on his chest to hold him down. nine leaned into the palm that met his cheek, looking up at gavin wistfully. gavin kissed his cheek.

“‘s not gonna stop me from praising you,” he murmured, their foreheads pressed together. the words brought a familiar little chirp from nine that gavin pined for.

“gavin,” nine said, his voice bordering between pleased and warning.

“can i kiss you?” gavin interjected.

“yes.”

it took less than a second for nine to lean into gavin as much as gavin was leaning into him, gavin’s fingers curling into his hair as nine’s dug into his thigh. the sound came again against gavin’s mouth as he held fast to nine’s side, feeling the ghost of each bone that wasn’t there. he smoothed his palm up the expanse of skin there, disarmed by how easily nine reacted to simply being touched. he finally pulled away only to duck under nine’s chin, forehead resting on his cheek. 

“i’m so lucky, aren’t i?”

another wobbling laugh, delicate from where gavin rested against nine’s neck.

“you’re ridiculous.”

gavin grinned wildly, folding over to tuck his head against nine’s neck.

nine fisted his hands in the edges of gavin’s shirt, curled around his hip bones. gavin kissed at nine’s throat, not daring to try and break the skin, just reminding him he was there, trying to process all the small sounds nine made. his hand still brushed faintly against the newly exposed wiring at nine’s middle, testing the sensations there. he brought his head up, meeting nine’s heavy eyes. gavin’s heart skipped.

“hey,” he spoke, soft. “how’re you doing?”

“i feel like you’re teasing me,” nine said, letting out a huff. he smiled nonetheless.

gavin gestured to the wiring, moving to sit more between nine’s lets then utop them. nine bobbed his head.

“please.”

a heavier touch against a flat, thick bundle of black wiring made nine’s breathing stutter, eyelids falling shut. he gripped gavin’s free wrist tightly, breath coming shorter than before. the sensation flooded nine’s short term memory systems, backlogging into the precious ram. each touch was a different yet wildly familiar mixture of need and current. gavin’s hand worked smoothly to map the bridges of surface wires exposed by the open maintenance panel.

gavin lowered himself flush with nine’s stomach, one hand still tangled in his insides, the other twisted with nine’s own. holding the small tubes between his fingers he mouthed openly at them, pressing soft, hesitant kisses into the plastic, feeling around them. the thirium didn’t really taste like much, tacky, a faint hint of iron, but the mewl that escaped nine was worth every second he’d spend purging later.

“how’d that feel?” he asked, but nine’s reply was more a string of soft moans than intelligent words.

he licked again at the tubing in his hand, finding, for a moment, a rhythm, listening to the pick up of nine’s cooling system. he wormed his way back into a sitting position after a moment, letting the tubes settle back into place. nine protested weakly at the absence, but promptly shut his mouth as gavin worked his hand back close to the interior paneling. nine wanted nothing more than for gavin to yank at his wires, but gavin’s touch remained delicate and shy and effortlessly edging him.

“gavin,  _ please _ ,” he whined. “whatever you were doing,  _ please, again _ .”

nine’s free hand groped uselessly for where gavin’s was inside of him. he grappled for his wrist, pushing them both down against the paneling there. his breath hitched in plea.

“there, there, there,” his voice crackled as gavin ran his fingers over empty sockets, toying with the plugs there. his wrist pressed against wires and rubbed tubing around itself. he pushed and pulled at where plugs entered outlets, mapping the hollows it left behind. it made nine so comfortably numb and yet full of electricity. his own skin rippled in and out of proper projection, turning white where the open casing met skin, where gavin’s touch met his own. each sensation was being pushed so quickly through his buses to his chipset that it nearly doubled the feeling. he couldn’t help the static undertones of his moans as they left his throat, nor the way he began to squirm and keel in response.

“shit, nines, are you okay?” 

he must’ve been frightened by the pick up in nine’s heat sink, the buzz in his voice, the yellow spin of his led, something about nine that he hadn’t seen before. he started to retract his hand, moving to check if he was okay, but nine gripped his arm.

“fuck-- _ please _ \--gavin, don’t you dare stop.”

“is it good?”

“ _ god _ , yes.”

gavin’s hand curled inside him, little wires dancing around his fingers, nine keening under him. he searched until he found a wide bundle of wires. hand wrapping around it, smoothing them flat, with nine’s pathetic mewling edging him on, he pulled, hard.

nine gave a choked, broken groan, digging into the sheet. his led circled bright red as his eyes fluttered shut, before he relaxed completely. his limbs fell in on themselves limply and he lay still.

 

nine awoke to the blurred outline of gavin’s face above him, partially hidden behind boot up notifications and system checks. he dismissed all of them, eyes flicking back and forth, finally calibrating and bringing gavin’s worried face into view. gavin was holding tight to his arm, a blue stained towel in his other hand.

“holy shit, nines, are you okay?”

nine frowned.

“it was a warm reboot, i’m alright. it seems my memory was suddenly overloaded is all.”

gavin’s face relaxed substantially. he sat back on his heels, giving nine a once over.

“what did i do? fuck you into reboot?” gavin asked, a smile worming on to his face.

nine swatted at him.

“don’t be crass.”

from the corner of his line of sight, a small notification blinked into view: RAM transfer module dislodged. nine pulled a face, but realizing the maintenance panel was still very much open at his stomach, stuck his hand inside.

“woah, hey, nine—“ gavin stuttered. the module popped back into place with an inaudible click. the maintenance panel shut behind him as he withdrew his arm.

“you pulled a transfer module, was i not supposed to put it back?”

“oh, jeez, sorry.”

gavin passed him the stained towel, allowing nine to wipe the blue blood and grease from his fingers. they sat for a moment in silence, gavin staring into his lap and nine fidgeting with the edge of the towel. with a deep sigh, nine finally spoke.

“you were good,” he said, voice barely above a whisper.

“was, uh,” gavin hesitated. “was it good?”

nine failed to fight a smile.

“yeah.” he looked up and over to gavin, whose face was pink and lit with a grin. nine couldn’t help but tug him over by the front of his shirt. he pulled him up and over into his lap, nearly crushing gavin in his arms, before kissing him firmly.

“you didn’t break anything,” he said, gavin’s face cradled in his hands. “and we had a good time. that’s what matters.”

gavin rest his hands gently against nine’s side, his face practically glowing.

“i said i was gonna find out what made you tick,” he teased.

“yes, and congratulations, but you  _ cannot _ be ingesting thirium on a regular basis.”

“it was worth it.”

gavin stayed, cradled next to nine, for one last kiss, before pulling himself away.

“we both need a shower, i need watch myself in case i get sick,” gavin said, beginning to peel his shirt from his back. “then we can finish that series we started watching.”

“that sounds like a good plan,” nine said and let gavin pull him towards the bathroom.

**Author's Note:**

> shameless plug, come talk to me! [my twitter](https://www.twitter.com/s0fthope)


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